Bench press

ABSTRACT

The bench press allows the user to control the increase and decrease of weights without assistance, so as to achieve maximal physical effect and can safely exercise. The bench press includes a frame having a bench on which the user lies and a support for supporting a barbell, a first cable having an end that is connected to the barbell and hanging the barbell through a first pulley that is rotatably installed in the frame, a second pulley, to which the other end of the first cable is connected, rotatably installed in the frame, a cam-shaped pulley rotated together the second pulley, a second cable having an end connected to the cam-shaped pulley, and a foothold, to which the other end of the second cable is connected, provided in the frame so that the user moves the foothold to pull the second cable.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority benefit of Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 20-2005-0000021 filed Jan. 3, 2005, the technical disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a bench press used to strengthen thechest and arm muscles, and more particularly to a bench press in which auser can control the increase and decrease of weight without assistance,so as to achieve maximal physical effect, and which allows one to safelyexercise.

2. Description of the Related Art

A bench press is a type of sports equipment, which is used to strengthenthe chest and arm muscles. The bench press is operated by lying on abench, positioning the arms at predetermined intervals, so as to grasp abarbell supported on supports, and then raising and lowering the barbellrepeatedly.

In conventional bench presses, if the user is unable to support thebarbell due to exhaustion, resulting from extended lowering and raisingof the barbell, injury to the face, chest, or neck frequently occurs, asthe user is unable to return the barbell to the supports and drops thebarbell.

As a bench press designed to prevent injury, a bench press in which aprotector is provided on a bench to prevent the barbell from beingdropped on the face, neck, or chest, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,217,421.

Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,662 discloses a bench press in which abarbell is suspended from one end of a rope or a chain, the weight issuspended from the other end of the rope or chain, and a clutch isdisposed at the intermediate portion of the rope or the chain such thatthe user manipulates the clutch to stop the movement of the rope or thechain.

However, according to the above conventional bench presses, thoughinjury to the user can be prevented, the exercise effect cannot beenhanced without assistance.

In order to strengthen the muscles using the bench press, contractionand relaxation of the muscles must be repeated a certain number oftimes. Particularly, in order to strengthen the muscles with maximumeffectiveness, it is preferable to change the weights during therepetition of contracting and relaxing the muscles. Thus, assistance isrequired to adjust the weight applied to the barbell when the userexercises to strengthen the muscles using the conventional benchpresses.

However, since assistance is not always available, the conventionalbench press is deficient in its ability to maximize exercise effects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the aboveand/or other problems, and it is an object of the present invention toprovide a bench press that a user can adjust the weight of a barbellwithout assistance so as to achieve effective exercise and to preventaccidents.

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objectscan be accomplished by the provision of a bench press for strengtheningchest and arm muscles, including a frame including a bench on which auser lies and a support for supporting a barbell, a first cable havingan end that is connected to the barbell and suspending the barbellthrough a first pulley rotatably installed in the frame, a secondpulley, to which the other end of the first cable is connected,rotatably installed in the frame, a cam-shaped pulley rotated togetherwith the second pulley, a second cable having an end connected to thecam-shaped pulley, and a foothold, to which the other end of the secondcable is connected, provided in the frame so that the user moves thefoothold to pull the second cable.

In the bench press claimed in claim 2, the foothold includes a guidemember installed in the frame at an angle, a sliding member slid alongthe guide member by the user, and a spring for maintaining the tensionof the second cable when the second cable is pulled by the slidingmember to which the other end of the second cable is connected.

In the bench press claimed in claim 3, the guide member of the footholdcomprises a stopper for restricting the movement of the sliding memberand for preventing the barbell connected to the sliding member frombeing fallen on the user.

In the bench press claimed in claim 4, the height and tilt angle of thebench are freely adjustable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent and more readily appreciated from the followingdescription of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bench press according to thepreferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the bench press according to thepreferred embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a bench press according to the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a bench press according to thepreferred embodiment of the present invention, with some componentsbeing omitted for clear viewing, and FIG. 2 is a side view illustratingthe bench press according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bench press according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention includes a frame 10 having a bench11 (depicted as a hidden line in FIG. 1) on which a user lies. The bench11 supports the upper half of the body and head of the user.

The frame 10 includes a pair of supports 12 for supporting a barbell 13.The supports 12 serve to hold the barbell 13 when the user does notexercise.

The frame 10 includes a first pulley 14 rotatably installed at the upperside of the frame 10 and a second pulley 15 rotatably installed to arotating shaft 17 at the lower side thereof.

One end of a first cable 20 is connected to the barbell 13 and the otherend of the first cable 20 is connected to the second pulley 15. Thebarbell 13 can be hung on the frame 10 by the cable 20 extended throughthe first pulley 15. The first cable 20 is preferably made of amaterial, such as rope, chain, or the like, with minimal elasticity, sothat it is not elongated when load is applied.

In the frame 10, a first roller 18 for maintaining tension in the cableis installed between the first pulley 14 and the second pulley 15.

The second pulley 15 to which the other end of the first cable 20 isconnected is rotatably installed to the lower side of the frame 10. Acam-shaped pulley 16 is installed to the rotating shaft 17 of the secondpulley 15. Namely, the second pulley 15 and the cam-shaped pulley 16have a common rotating shaft 17.

One end of a second cable 30 is connected to the cam-shaped pulley 16and the other end of the second cable 30 is connected to a foothold 40.The second cable 30 is preferably made of a material, such as rope,chain, or the like, with minimal elasticity, so that it is not elongatedwhen load is applied, like the first cable 20.

In the frame 10, a second roller 19 for maintaining the tension of thesecond cable 30 is installed between the cam-shaped pulley 16 and thefoothold 40.

The foothold 40 to which the other end of the second cable 30 isconnected is provided at the position of the frame 10 on which theuser's feet are placed. In other words, the foothold 40 is disposed atthe left end portion of the frame 10 as seen in FIG. 2.

The foothold 40 includes a guide member 41 installed to the frame 10 ata predetermined angle, and a sliding member 42 sliding along the guidemember 41.

The other end of the second cable 30 is connected to the sliding member42 of the foothold 40. The sliding member 42 is pressed in the directionin which the second cable 20 is pulled by a spring 43 such that constanttension is applied to the second cable 20.

A pair of steps 44, on which the user can place his/her feet, isattached to the sliding member 42 so that the user strengthens his/herfeet so as to press the steps 44 and then the sliding member 42 can movealong the guide member 41.

The sliding member 42 is connected to the barbell 13 via the secondcable 30, the cam-shaped pulley 16, the rotating shaft 17, the secondpulley 19, and the first pulley 20. As such, the user presses and movesthe sliding member 42 so as to lift the barbell 13, and, conversely, theuser can lift and lower the barbell 13 to move the sliding member 42.

It is preferred that a stopper (not shown) for restricting the movementof the sliding member 42 is provided to the guide member 41 of thefoothold 40. The stopper restricts the movement of the sliding member 41so that the barbell 13 connected to the sliding member 42 is preventedfrom falling on the face, neck, or chest, as described above.

The bench press constructed as describe above is operated in thefollowing manner.

First the user lies on the bench 11 and lifts the barbell 13 supportedby the supports 11. When the barbell 13 is moved upward, the slidingmember 42 of the foothold 40 connected to the barbell 13 via the firstcable 20, the second pulley 15, the rotating shaft 17, the cam-shapedpulley 16, and the second cable 30 can be moved by the resilient forceof the spring 43 regardless the user strengthens his/her feet to pressthe sliding member 42 of the foothold 40.

As seen in FIG. 2, if assuming the left direction as a withdrawingdirection and the right direction as an advancing direction when thesliding member 42 moves along the guide member 41, the sliding member 42is moved in the withdrawing direction by the spring 43 when the userlifts the barbell 13 as described above, and is moved in the advancingdirection when the user lowers the barbell 13.

As such, since a proper tensile force is maintained in the first andsecond cables 20 and 30 by the spring 43 while repeating the actions oflifting and lowering the barbell 13, the first and second cables 20 and30 can be prevented from being separated from the first and secondpulleys 14 and 15, the cam-shaped pulley 16, or the first and secondrollers 18 and 19.

Since the user does not need to use the foothold 40 in the initial stateof the exercise (that is, before the muscles become severely fatigued),the user does not have to place his/her feet on the steps 44. However,the user may exercise in a state of placing the feet on the steps 44even in the initial state.

When the user repeats the actions of lifting and lowering the barbell 13and the user's muscles become fatigued to the extent that the user canno longer lift the barbell 13, the user places his/her feet on thefoothold 40 and presses the foothold 40 so as to withdraw the slidingmember 42 to lift the barbell 13.

As such, by using the muscles of the arms, chest, and feetsimultaneously, it is possible to obtain the same effect as decreasingthe weight of the barbell 13. In other words, the strength of the user'sarms required to lift the barbell 13 is decreased in correspondence tothe strength of the user's feet required to lower the sliding member 42.

Thus, the user can continue to exercise in a state that the weight ofthe barbell 13 is decreased as much as a predetermined weight so thatthe strength of the chest and arm muscles can be maximized.

Moreover, since the force with which the user withdraws the slidingmember 42 is transmitted to the barbell 13 via the cam-shaped pulley 16,it is possible to achieve physical effect better than that achieved whenthe force is transmitted to the barbell 13 via the conventional circularpulley. The shape of the cam-shaped pulley 16 is not limited to theshape depicted in the drawings, but the shape of the cam-shaped pulley16 is preferably determined to maximize the physical effect.

Even when the user exercises using the barbell 13 or accidentally dropsthe barbell 13, due to fatigue, during placing the barbell 13 on thesupports 12 after the exercise, the user can restrict the movement ofthe sliding member 42 using the feet so as to prevent the damage due tothe falling barbell 13.

Further, as described above, if the stopper for restricting the movementof the sliding member 42 is provided to the guide member 41, the usercan be prevented from injury due to the falling barbell 13 even when theuser does not restrict the movement of the sliding member 42 of thefoothold 40 by his/her feet.

In the preferred embodiment, although the drawings show that the bench11 is firmly fixed by the frame 10 and the second roller 19 is attachedto the lower surface of the bench 11, a supporting structure forsupporting the bench 11 may be constructed to freely change the heightand a tilt angle of the bench 11. At this time, the second roller 19 ispreferably attached to a fixed portion of the frame 10, instead ofattaching the second roller 19 to the lower surface of the bench 11.

As described above, according to the present invention, a bench pressthat a user adjusts the weight of a barbell without assistance and thatmaximal physical effect can be achieved and injury to the user isprevented is provided.

According to the present invention, since the user puts his/her feet onand presses the steps 44 of the foothold 40 so as to withdraw thesliding member 42 and to lift the barbell 13, the user decreases theweight of the barbell 13 without assistance for the final repeat oflifting and lowering the barbell 13 as a key factor for strengtheningmuscles by two or three times and continues to exercise, so that thestrength of the chest and arm muscles can be maximized and the user canachieve the maximal physical effect.

Further, according to the present invention, even when the user fails todo the final repeat or accidentally drops the barbell 13, the user canrestrict the movement of the sliding member 42 of the foothold 40 byfoot so as to prevent the user from being injured due to the fallingbarbell 13.

Moreover, according to the present invention, in the case that thestopper for restricting the movement of the sliding member 42 isprovided to the guide member 41, the user is surely prevented frominjury due to the falling barbell 13 even when the sliding member 42 ofthe foothold 40 is not restricted by the user's feet.

As described above, when exercising using the bench press according tothe present invention, since the user can lift the barbell 13 using legmuscles even when the user cannot lift the barbell 13 using the chestand arm muscles further, the user can keep exercising without fear ofinjury.

Further, according to the present invention, since the force with whichthe user withdraws the sliding member 42 is transmitted to the barbell13 via the cam-shaped pulley 16, the user can achieve the physicaleffect much better than when the force is transmitted to the barbell 13via a conventional circular pulley.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

1. A bench press for strengthening chest and arm muscles, comprising: aframe including a bench on which a user lies and a support forsupporting a barbell; a first cable having an end that is connected tothe barbell and suspending the barbell through a first pulley rotatablyinstalled in the frame; a second pulley, to which the other end of thefirst cable is connected, rotatably installed in the frame; a cam-shapedpulley rotated together with the second pulley; a second cable having anend connected to the cam-shaped pulley; and a foothold, to which theother end of the second cable is connected, provided in the frame sothat the user moves the foothold to pull the second cable.
 2. The benchpress as set forth in claim 1, wherein the foothold comprises: a guidemember installed in the frame at an angle; a sliding member slid alongthe guide member by the user; and a spring for maintaining the tensionof the second cable when the second cable is pulled by the slidingmember to which the other end of the second cable is connected.
 3. Thebench press as set forth in claim 2, wherein the guide member of thefoothold comprises a stopper for restricting the movement of the slidingmember and for preventing the barbell connected to the sliding memberfrom being fallen on the user.
 4. The bench press as set forth in anyone of claims 1 to 3, wherein the height and tilt angle of the bench arefreely adjustable.